The Role of the Nurse in Recognising and Responding to Elder Abuse

Background/Aim: Elder abuse is a complex and multifaceted issue and now a global and human rights concern. The majority of older people experiencing elder abuse live at home and the perpetrator is most likely to be a close... [ view full abstract ]

Background/Aim:
Elder abuse is a complex and multifaceted issue and now a global and human rights concern. The majority of older people experiencing elder abuse live at home and the perpetrator is most likely to be a close family member or other relative. Elder abuse affects approximately 2.2 % of the older population in Ireland, this means that there could be as many as 10,000 experiencing abuse. However, leading research has estimated that for every single case of elder abuse that is reported, twenty four go unreported. The aim of this paper is to critically examine the empirical literature to better understand the extent to which nurses recognise and respond to elder abuse in their practice.

Methods: A carefully constructed search strategy was developed to identify key literature on the topic. The search strategy was applied to electronic databases such as CINAHL, Medline and Pubmed. The empirical literature was analysed to identify key and recurrent themes.

Key Findings: An analysis of the literature identified the following key themes: Nurses are in a unique position to be able to recognise and respond to suspicions of elder abuse in their practice. Nurses have a professional responsibility to identify individuals who are at risk. The role of the nurse includes screening and assessment of older people at risk. Other key interventions for nurses include reporting suspicions of elder abuse; intervening in cases of abuse and prevention of elder abuse.

Conclusions: Evidence suggests the ability of the nurse to appropriately detect and manage elder abuse is often inadequate. There are concerns regarding the extent to which nurses have the knowledge and skill to recognise and respond to suspected cases of elder abuse in their practice. If nurses are better able to recognise elder abuse then prompt identification and reporting to appropriate services might follow.